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Introducing the Bee Bold Alliance
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Bee Bold Alliance
A Regenerative Ecology Network
Right now, bees are dying worldwide at an alarming rate. Why should you care? Because bees and other pollinators are an essential link in the food chain—our food chain.
The Bee Bold Alliance is a movement to help people attract and sustain pollinators in their home gardens, and at their place of work through habitat restoration and creation.
The Bee Bold Alliance blog will share stories that follow both the root causes for the disappearance of the bees and why it is so important to listen to the pollinators. Join us as we explore the diversity and abundance of our Pollinators of the world.
The four areas of focus:
-
Culture
- How Beauty, Art, and Intention Influence our Ecology
-
Provisions
- The Power of Food & Herbal Medicine for Global Health
-
Regulation
- Regenerative Systems for Ecological Solutions
-
Support
- Soil Health, and Traditional Ecology Knowledge of Ancestral People
In these stories we tell how to collaborate with our Bee Bold Partners for the greater good of all. We will look into how we learn from our mistakes and utilize all of the tools available to us to solve the problem of our disappearing pollinators and the huge impact this has on our ecology.
As a Certified B Corp Thanksgiving Coffee Company is prepared to lead the way for Pollinator Protection in our community and beyond.
The Main Objective
The Bee Bold Alliance is about helping people learn how to attract and sustain pollinators in their home gardens & at their place of work through habitat restoration and creation.
However we will not stop there, we are going to look deeper into the root cause of the disappearance of pollinators and discover modern solutions, that perhaps have previously been overlooked.
To find examples of a sustainable relationship with the earth, we will look to a regenerative ecology network that includes Traditional Ecology Knowledge (TEK). Incorporating Indigenous wisdom gathered from around the world by those who develop and maintain a deep and ancestral connection to the land.
Each one of us carries a piece within, it is up to us to find it, and use it for the greater good.
You too, are part of this solution, and I thank you for being here. Your support on this collaborative project is essential. Your participation will allow us to move forward for a bountiful future for all. If you are coffee drinker, make your coffee our Bee Bold Coffee and support pollinator protection in your local region every morning.
The Beginning
The Bee Bold Alliance came into focus in 2018, just after receiving a loud and clear message that it was “my time” be a steward of this land. Shortly after I received this message, Thanksgiving Coffee Company invited me to relaunch the Bee Bold project.
In revitalizing this campaign, the Bee Bold Alliance for Pollinator Protectors came into being. The more I learn about my role in leading this campaign, the less I truly know. For example, now I understand it is not about being a “steward”, one who watches over the land, but more importantly one who actively gives to the land before one takes. To be full of gratitude for all we are given. To move through each day with honor and respect for the Earth that gives us every little thing.
The Bee Bold Alliance is a way to give to the land your home is on, to the land you do your business is on, and to the community you are part of. The vision is to build native food forest with First Nations People, the seed savers, and to support the health of our new generations. The Bee Bold Alliance is about honoring the original care givers of these lands, and protecting the pollinators who allow us to grow the seeds of real food that nourish us.
As we develop a full spectrum Ecology System, we must include the practices of Cultural Ecology from the wisdom of our elders. How has community song & dance been part of the creation process for our food systems? How do we honored the spirit of life through our culture, and how is the sound health for our ecology manifested? This is the focus of work I do as a singing woman and consultant at the Honey Hive of Mendocino.
The Earth is full of abundance, the gifts of life are all around us, all that we need to survive comes from this Great Planet. So how do we learn to live in harmony with the Earth and all its inhabitants. This is what I want to know, and I will take you through this journey of learning, as we travel many roads and look at many different tools that can be utilized in this work.
Here we are at the beginning of an emerging network for mutual support of our pollinator protectors: it will grow as we build it. Our World is as resilient as we make it. Let us find this new form of global coherence with the aid or one another. I hope you will join us on this journey. Become a pollinator protector with the Bee Bold Alliance here.
Upcoming blog – Bee Bold Advisors
This work has been informed by many wonderful advisors and I will share with you the work they do in the upcoming posts.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Advocate for Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Consultant for the Honey Hive of Mendocino
Recommended Reading
Back to the Blog-
Namanyoni Co-op united a community
The wheels were set in motion many years ago when Thanksgiving Coffee began our work with the Ugandan Coffee Cooperative “Delicious Peace” to bring their Interfaith coffee to market. For those of you who have been following us on this unique journey, we want to share another perspective. It is an article written by an organization that understands cooperatives are run by people, and people have many ups and downs.
"We love this story of multiple faiths helping each other, moving beyond personal beliefs"
Child from the "Delicious Peace" Coffee Cooperative in Uganda.
The author is Rebecca Harvey, the executive editor of Co-operative News. She was very intrigued about the journey this cooperative has been on and contacted Thanksgiving to learn about our involvement. We had the opportunity to speak with her and share our story. We also learned that Co-op News has been around for over 150 years to support the communication between all the many cooperatives in England, and now the World.
The Article For You To Read:
How A Coffee Co-op United A Community – And Was Reborn After A Leadership Crisis
More of our history with the Delicious Peace Cooperative:
2009: Delicious Peace Moves Forward
2014: A Trip To Africa
2020: Delicious Peace Coffee: A New Story
2023: Evolution of Change
Where it all began - the Delicious Peace Coffee
Our CausesNamanyoni Co-op United A Community
read more -
End The Embargo Coffee
Entering the 25th year of End The Embargo Coffee, we find the embargo on Cuba by our government still in place. However, it is now easy to obtain a Visa to travel to Cuba on your own or via the many Social Justice Non profits and Churches that lead mission driven or curated special interest trips to the island.
Back in 1998 we teamed up with Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nonprofit which was then, a leading proponent in favor of ending the US Cuba hostilities. Jonah Katzeff, now CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to Cuba with Global Exchange in the late 90’s. I had complex motives for creating End the Embargo Coffee 25 years ago. My motives were not purely about Social Justice. I was a cigar judge at the time for Cigar Aficionado magazine, and I understood that the quality of Cuban cigars was based on its soil and climate as much as on the human skills that transformed fresh picked tobacco leaf and aged it, blended it, and rolled it into cigars for export. Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco that were made into their fantastic cigars. I wanted that coffee! However, it was no secret that Thanksgiving Coffee was a supporter of the Nicaraguan revolution, and that I was a Sandinista at heart. I made many visits to Nicaragua in 1985, and in 1986 negotiated a contract to purchase 75,000 pounds of coffee for delivery to the SF/Oakland Bay Area).
America was at war with Nicaragua using unhappy Nicaraguans as it's Mercenaries. Although it was a peoples revolution, almost immediately after the Nicaraguan newspapers reported my contract, President Reagan declared an Embargo on Nicaraguan imports which included my 75,000 pounds. I was caught in the middle of US Foreign Policy. What I did is another story which solidified me as the Premier Craft Coffee Radical in America. Spoiler alert, I challenged the Reagan embargo and broke the embargo. I learned allot from that experience and fifteen years later, it informed my decision to create End The Embargo Coffee.
Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco...
I was inspired by my experiences in Nicaragua. I wanted to do my part for the coffee farmers, and agricultural workers in Cuba. I wanted to put my stake in the ground to be the first to bring Cuban coffee to the United States. When we created the packaging for in the embargo coffee the Pope had just visited Cuba. Daniel Ortega, President and one of the nine commandants of the Nicaraguan revolutionary army (FSLN) that defeated the Samosa Dictatorship in 1979, came to meet the Pope at the airport. The Pope was not a happy Pope in the moment, and pointed and accusatory finger at the President of Nicaragua as he reached to kiss the popes ring. A photo of that moment became a poster, which became an International memorial to the Revolution. I saw one in Rwanda in the home of a coffee farmer twenty years later. I couldn’t help myself. I used it for the dark roast graphic. Che was chosen for the light roast.
It should be noted that the artist who created that likeness of Che was interviewed for an article in Business Week Magazine. He commented on the use of the image, disapproving of Seagram’s use of the image to sell vodka, but approved Thanksgiving Coffee’s use as the image representing coffee for End the Embargo. The week that publication hit the newsstands we sold 5,000 12 oz. packages.
For many years afterwards, I received quite a number of nasty letters and phone threats from Cuban immigrants living in Miami, who had, in their words, escaped Cuba to find freedom in America. They weren’t poor Cubans, but the wealthy, who had prospered as part of the pre revolution economy. I carried on an interesting dialogue with the detractors of our of our anti-embargo activism. As the Cuban political situation mellowed over time, the threats and nasty accusations slowed to a trickle.
Today, after quarter century of Che, and the Pope, being on grocery shelves, and in our online web store, we begin the process of ending our relationship with this revolutionary product line. Although the issue is still important, we just don’t have the staff to promote this product the way it needs to be promoted to achieve its educational aims. We have not changed our politics of inclusion and social justice, nor have we changed our opinion about whether or not the embargo should stand or fall. We believe that the Cuban embargo is an inappropriate way to achieve peace between nations. This embargo, as all embargoes do, impacts the poorest of the Cuban citizens. It does not impact wealthy Cubans in Cuba. Che and the Pope now, just sit patiently on store shelves looking out quietly as people pass by and choose other coffees that have a more current pressing social, environmental, and economic justice issues.
After a quarter century the time to retire these iconic images is for us, now. If you wish to continue to support the Cuban Cuban people and wish to see the embargo on Cuban products ended, here is the original organization that we supported which you can also support by contributing your energy and and/or financial support. They do the work that we can no longer do.
Global Exchange - Normalize Relations with Cuba
Let’s say goodbye to End the Embargo Coffee until such time when Thanksgiving Coffee Company has the employee power to give this product is due. Cuban coffee never got to the United States but Thanksgiving’s Embargo Coffee package recently got to Cuba. Photographs below show Susan Savage of the Mendocino Coast Community Healthcare District delivering Che to one of her friends in Cuba in late January 2023
End of Story
Paul Katzeff, is the Co-Founder, Roast Master Emeritis and former CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
You will find all the same great flavor and taste of End the Embargo in our Noyo Harbor French
Our CausesGoodbye - End The Embargo
read more -
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg
The Noyo Food Forest is having their annual Earth Day celebration this Saturday at the Learning Garden. This four hour event is a fundraiser for the Farm-to-School and Youth Intern programs that the Noyo Food Forest operates year-round. We partner with the Noyo Food Forest throughout the year, and we especially love being a part of this annual event in Fort Bragg.
15th Annual Earth Day Event
Saturday, April 20, 12 - 4 PM
At the Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School on Dana Street.This Earth Day event is free and geared toward everyone in the family. There will be live music, and you can participate by putting down a bid for the silent auction, paying entry to bouncy houses, and tasting goodies from local chefs. This is one of the most fun events that happens in the city of Fort Bragg every year. Local organizations and nonprofits are a big part of this event, and you’ll see booths and representatives from the Noyo Marine Science Center, the Mendocino Land Trust, our Mendocino County state parks and many more important parts of the coastal community.
Thanksgiving Coffee will be serving up samples of our Bee Bold Blend, our new Nitro Coffee, and the Noyo Food Forest will be selling 12oz bags, as well. All the proceeds benefit the Noyo Food Forest and their important work here in our community. We are very happy to be a part of this awesome event. For more information, visit the Noyo Food Forest Earth Day page on their website, and RSVP on Facebook to share with your friends. Join us on April 20 – see you at the Learning Garden.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Partnership with the Noyo Food ForestLearn more about how we support our Mother Earth
bee boldEarth Day Event in Fort Bragg 2024
read more -
Celebrating Women and Coffee
In many countries coffee is one of the main sources of income for women to feed their families. This March we want to celebrate all the hard working women who grow, pick, process and produce the delicious coffees we send out into the world. We know how hard it can be, especially with all the unpaid work women are responsible for. We also know how important it is to have freedom over ones time, saftey and finances. It is our hope at Thanksgiving Coffee Company that all the women working in coffee can live happy and healthy lives.
Ethiopian Coffee Farmer
In order to bring the balance of labour and earned income for women, there is still a long way to go. The gender equality report from the International Coffee Organization found that 70% of labour in coffee production is provided by women, however, women have systematically lower access to resources, land, credit and information, and that keeps the women in a state of poverty.
Nepal- Women Sorting Himalayan ArabicaCoffee
El Salvador - Women Sorting Coffee
Text
Congo - Coffee Farmer and Mother
An estimated 72% of unpaid care work in households globally is done by women.
Uganda- Mirimbe Kawamera Farmer and Mother
Thanksgiving has been fostering empowerment for women and working with our importer Etico to achieve gender equality with the Soppexcca Co-op since 2013. We have now been able to raise over $40,000 and give into the fund to support women coffee farmers for financial stability and resources for education and growth towards a better life.
Nicaragua, Soppexcca Co-op memeber planting coffee
Read more about our support for the women of Soppexcca:
"Recognizing the Value of Womens Unpaid Work".
Celebrate the Women Coffee Farmers of Soppexcca
You can support the women of SOPPEXCCA, and the great community they cultivate together by purchasing their coffee here.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Advocate for Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Consultant for the Honey Hive of Mendocino.
sustainabilityCelebrating Women and Coffee
read more
Namanyoni Co-op united a community
The wheels were set in motion many years ago when Thanksgiving Coffee began our work with the Ugandan Coffee Cooperative “Delicious Peace” to bring their Interfaith coffee to market. For those of you who have been following us on this unique journey, we want to share another perspective. It is an article written by an organization that understands cooperatives are run by people, and people have many ups and downs.
"We love this story of multiple faiths helping each other, moving beyond personal beliefs"
Child from the "Delicious Peace" Coffee Cooperative in Uganda.
The author is Rebecca Harvey, the executive editor of Co-operative News. She was very intrigued about the journey this cooperative has been on and contacted Thanksgiving to learn about our involvement. We had the opportunity to speak with her and share our story. We also learned that Co-op News has been around for over 150 years to support the communication between all the many cooperatives in England, and now the World.
The Article For You To Read:
How A Coffee Co-op United A Community – And Was Reborn After A Leadership Crisis
More of our history with the Delicious Peace Cooperative:
2009: Delicious Peace Moves Forward
2014: A Trip To Africa
2020: Delicious Peace Coffee: A New Story
2023: Evolution of Change
Where it all began - the Delicious Peace Coffee
Namanyoni Co-op United A Community
read moreEnd The Embargo Coffee
Entering the 25th year of End The Embargo Coffee, we find the embargo on Cuba by our government still in place. However, it is now easy to obtain a Visa to travel to Cuba on your own or via the many Social Justice Non profits and Churches that lead mission driven or curated special interest trips to the island.
Back in 1998 we teamed up with Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nonprofit which was then, a leading proponent in favor of ending the US Cuba hostilities. Jonah Katzeff, now CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to Cuba with Global Exchange in the late 90’s. I had complex motives for creating End the Embargo Coffee 25 years ago. My motives were not purely about Social Justice. I was a cigar judge at the time for Cigar Aficionado magazine, and I understood that the quality of Cuban cigars was based on its soil and climate as much as on the human skills that transformed fresh picked tobacco leaf and aged it, blended it, and rolled it into cigars for export. Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco that were made into their fantastic cigars. I wanted that coffee! However, it was no secret that Thanksgiving Coffee was a supporter of the Nicaraguan revolution, and that I was a Sandinista at heart. I made many visits to Nicaragua in 1985, and in 1986 negotiated a contract to purchase 75,000 pounds of coffee for delivery to the SF/Oakland Bay Area).
America was at war with Nicaragua using unhappy Nicaraguans as it's Mercenaries. Although it was a peoples revolution, almost immediately after the Nicaraguan newspapers reported my contract, President Reagan declared an Embargo on Nicaraguan imports which included my 75,000 pounds. I was caught in the middle of US Foreign Policy. What I did is another story which solidified me as the Premier Craft Coffee Radical in America. Spoiler alert, I challenged the Reagan embargo and broke the embargo. I learned allot from that experience and fifteen years later, it informed my decision to create End The Embargo Coffee.
Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco...
I was inspired by my experiences in Nicaragua. I wanted to do my part for the coffee farmers, and agricultural workers in Cuba. I wanted to put my stake in the ground to be the first to bring Cuban coffee to the United States. When we created the packaging for in the embargo coffee the Pope had just visited Cuba. Daniel Ortega, President and one of the nine commandants of the Nicaraguan revolutionary army (FSLN) that defeated the Samosa Dictatorship in 1979, came to meet the Pope at the airport. The Pope was not a happy Pope in the moment, and pointed and accusatory finger at the President of Nicaragua as he reached to kiss the popes ring. A photo of that moment became a poster, which became an International memorial to the Revolution. I saw one in Rwanda in the home of a coffee farmer twenty years later. I couldn’t help myself. I used it for the dark roast graphic. Che was chosen for the light roast.
It should be noted that the artist who created that likeness of Che was interviewed for an article in Business Week Magazine. He commented on the use of the image, disapproving of Seagram’s use of the image to sell vodka, but approved Thanksgiving Coffee’s use as the image representing coffee for End the Embargo. The week that publication hit the newsstands we sold 5,000 12 oz. packages.
For many years afterwards, I received quite a number of nasty letters and phone threats from Cuban immigrants living in Miami, who had, in their words, escaped Cuba to find freedom in America. They weren’t poor Cubans, but the wealthy, who had prospered as part of the pre revolution economy. I carried on an interesting dialogue with the detractors of our of our anti-embargo activism. As the Cuban political situation mellowed over time, the threats and nasty accusations slowed to a trickle.
Today, after quarter century of Che, and the Pope, being on grocery shelves, and in our online web store, we begin the process of ending our relationship with this revolutionary product line. Although the issue is still important, we just don’t have the staff to promote this product the way it needs to be promoted to achieve its educational aims. We have not changed our politics of inclusion and social justice, nor have we changed our opinion about whether or not the embargo should stand or fall. We believe that the Cuban embargo is an inappropriate way to achieve peace between nations. This embargo, as all embargoes do, impacts the poorest of the Cuban citizens. It does not impact wealthy Cubans in Cuba. Che and the Pope now, just sit patiently on store shelves looking out quietly as people pass by and choose other coffees that have a more current pressing social, environmental, and economic justice issues.
After a quarter century the time to retire these iconic images is for us, now. If you wish to continue to support the Cuban Cuban people and wish to see the embargo on Cuban products ended, here is the original organization that we supported which you can also support by contributing your energy and and/or financial support. They do the work that we can no longer do.
Global Exchange - Normalize Relations with Cuba
Let’s say goodbye to End the Embargo Coffee until such time when Thanksgiving Coffee Company has the employee power to give this product is due. Cuban coffee never got to the United States but Thanksgiving’s Embargo Coffee package recently got to Cuba. Photographs below show Susan Savage of the Mendocino Coast Community Healthcare District delivering Che to one of her friends in Cuba in late January 2023
End of Story
Paul Katzeff, is the Co-Founder, Roast Master Emeritis and former CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
You will find all the same great flavor and taste of End the Embargo in our Noyo Harbor French
Goodbye - End The Embargo
read moreWorld Female Ranger Week
The first ever World Female Ranger Award winner Caren Yegon (Chags Photography)
Original Post from Mara Elephant Project by Claire Bolles
Protecting Elephants and Their Habitats Across the Greater Mara Ecosystem
It is World Female Ranger Week, a time set aside to highlight the important conservation work undertaken by women on the frontline. The first ever World Female Ranger Award winner Caren Yegon just completed a month-long LEAD Ranger training at the Wildlife Works facility in Rukinga, Kenya. (Our cause coffee partner) The Mara Elephant Project / Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Mau De-Snaring Unit lead ranger was joined by 13 rangers, which included nine women, from other conservation organizations for the Bush School Instructor course facilitated by both LEAD Ranger and special guest instructors.
Caren will take the skills she learned and bring them back to educate other MEP rangers. Skills like making safe drinking water in the field, using various signals to communicate when you’re lost or need to be discreet, making shelter and fire with basic supplies, navigating in the field without technology and more.
As we join other conservation organizations celebrating World Female Ranger Week, we continue our commitment to nurture a diverse and inclusive workforce thanks to your support.
A special thanks to LEAD Ranger for their commitment to nature’s first responders and to How Many Elephants for supporting World Female Ranger Week to shine a light on women like Caren.
You can send more Mara Elephant Project rangers like Caren for training in 2023, when you purchase Protect Our Elephants coffee. Support the MEP conservation heroes.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company .
Celebrate Women in Conservation
read moreEarth Day Event in Fort Bragg
The Noyo Food Forest is having their annual Earth Day celebration this Saturday at the Learning Garden. This four hour event is a fundraiser for the Farm-to-School and Youth Intern programs that the Noyo Food Forest operates year-round. We partner with the Noyo Food Forest throughout the year, and we especially love being a part of this annual event in Fort Bragg.
15th Annual Earth Day Event
Saturday, April 20, 12 - 4 PM
At the Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School on Dana Street.
This Earth Day event is free and geared toward everyone in the family. There will be live music, and you can participate by putting down a bid for the silent auction, paying entry to bouncy houses, and tasting goodies from local chefs. This is one of the most fun events that happens in the city of Fort Bragg every year. Local organizations and nonprofits are a big part of this event, and you’ll see booths and representatives from the Noyo Marine Science Center, the Mendocino Land Trust, our Mendocino County state parks and many more important parts of the coastal community.
Thanksgiving Coffee will be serving up samples of our Bee Bold Blend, our new Nitro Coffee, and the Noyo Food Forest will be selling 12oz bags, as well. All the proceeds benefit the Noyo Food Forest and their important work here in our community. We are very happy to be a part of this awesome event. For more information, visit the Noyo Food Forest Earth Day page on their website, and RSVP on Facebook to share with your friends. Join us on April 20 – see you at the Learning Garden.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Partnership with the Noyo Food Forest
Learn more about how we support our Mother Earth
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg 2024
read moreCelebrating Women and Coffee
In many countries coffee is one of the main sources of income for women to feed their families. This March we want to celebrate all the hard working women who grow, pick, process and produce the delicious coffees we send out into the world. We know how hard it can be, especially with all the unpaid work women are responsible for. We also know how important it is to have freedom over ones time, saftey and finances. It is our hope at Thanksgiving Coffee Company that all the women working in coffee can live happy and healthy lives.
Ethiopian Coffee Farmer
In order to bring the balance of labour and earned income for women, there is still a long way to go. The gender equality report from the International Coffee Organization found that 70% of labour in coffee production is provided by women, however, women have systematically lower access to resources, land, credit and information, and that keeps the women in a state of poverty.
Nepal- Women Sorting Himalayan ArabicaCoffee
El Salvador - Women Sorting Coffee
Text
Congo - Coffee Farmer and Mother
An estimated 72% of unpaid care work in households globally is done by women.
Uganda- Mirimbe Kawamera Farmer and Mother
Thanksgiving has been fostering empowerment for women and working with our importer Etico to achieve gender equality with the Soppexcca Co-op since 2013. We have now been able to raise over $40,000 and give into the fund to support women coffee farmers for financial stability and resources for education and growth towards a better life.
Nicaragua, Soppexcca Co-op memeber planting coffee
Read more about our support for the women of Soppexcca:
"Recognizing the Value of Womens Unpaid Work".
Celebrate the Women Coffee Farmers of Soppexcca
You can support the women of SOPPEXCCA, and the great community they cultivate together by purchasing their coffee here.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainable Ecology Advocate for Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Consultant for the Honey Hive of Mendocino.
Celebrating Women and Coffee
read moreBenefits of Coffee - Cultivating health
It’s a New Year and we want to start out with some helpful and hopeful news. Yes, we want to share all about the health and happiness that coffee adds to our lives. As we grow and evolve, so do the studies on the health benefits of coffee.
Coffee Culture
Coffee has been consumed in coffee houses for centuries. People all over the world gather to share in the vast benefits of this darkly brewed elixir. Coffee culture has helped fuel the art of the renaissance, sparked revolutionary thought and even inspired some “to reach divine consciousness in midnight prayers.”
For us coffee is our source of purpose, it is our direct link to meaningful work, and our reason for the regenerative focus of our business. Coffee connects us to our ommunity and an active lifestyle of long walks outdoors with family, friends and pets. It is our companion as we watch the sun rise in the morning and helps us greet the new day.
Billions of cups of coffee are consumed daily, thank goodness it can also support for our health. Of course, health comes in many different forms, as does happiness. Both are individual and can only be attained by the one attaining it. So really, your relationship with coffee is unique to you, and your own physiology. The key here is to know yourself and how best you take your coffee.
Physical Benefits of Coffee
Coffee beans have mostly been associated with caffeine which can bring acuity, focus and a boost of energy. However, it is also full of antioxidants and polyphenol, which helps protect your body in a myriad of ways.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine states that drinking the right amount of coffee can: support longevity, ward off heart failure, support healthy liver enzymes and it even decreases breakage in your DNA strands. The “right amount” is based on what is best for your own body, for many people that is 3-5 cups a day. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, best consult your support team.
“The overall evidence has been pretty convincing that coffee has been more healthful than harmful in terms of health outcomes,” said Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in an April 5, 2021, article in Discover. “For most people, moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy diet.”
Brew A Healthy Cup
For a great detailed and wonderfully researched article read “How to Brew The Healthiest Cup of Coffee by Danielle Braff.
The main breakdown for a healthy cup is this; organic coffee beans grown in high altitudes, with a lighter roast, a fine grind, prepared with a filter, hot but not boiling water, and served black.
Coffee Beans are one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. When you choose organic beans, it will reduce your intake of harmful pesticides. The higher altitude will produce the highest levels of polyphenol in your coffee, so it is recommended to use coffee sourced from Ethiopia, Central and South America for that reason.
The lighter roast and finer the grind will retain the most antioxidants and beneficial compounds in your brewed cup. This means an espresso or Turkish grind can be one of the healthiest choices.
This study indicates that drinking filtered coffee can reduce 30 times more cholesterol-raising compounds, so filtering your coffee is good if cholestoral is a concern.
Lastly the water you use is important, and filtered water is best. If you want the most antioxidants you will need to stick with a hot brew, and best take it black. Black coffee also has micronutrients, including potassium, magnesium, and niacin. Try adding spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg or tumeric to increase the flavor.
If you are wanting more caffeine and lower acidity, a cold brew will give you what you are after. And if you’re sensitive to caffeine, don’t worry: decaf coffee has a similar roster of benefits.
Cultivating Health
Live Longer
Support your Heart
Strengthen your DNA
Coffee supports us at Thanksgiving to be part of the whole picture working towards becoming our best selves and building upon our 50 years of coffee knowledge. The coffee farmers we support care about their farms, they cultivate their trees with love, and the coffee they produce tastes like it. Every bag of coffee we roast has been purchased from small family farms and farmer co-ops working towards bettering themselves and their families.
The coffee we produce offers warmth and vigor to carry on even in the face of the difficulties life can throw at you. The ability of our artisan roasters to bring the best qualities of these cultivated beans adds another level of depth and excellence to the overall wellbeing of the process. This coffee inspires us to walk the path of equality and build a healthy planet with every bean. We wish for you a wonderful cup full of hope, joy and inspiration filled to the brim with our deliciously exquisite coffee.
Healthy Choices
A wonderful way to enjoy our high quality coffee is to join one of our Coffee Clubs.
Choose from our Roastmaster's Select or Single Origin subscriptions.
Lavender Grace is the Sustainability Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company